Not Easy
by blutiger77
Summary: Nothing was easy for her. She couldn't even sleep with out being interrupted. But, of all the things that were hard for her, Love was the hardest. It was never easy. An Itachi one-shot. I do not own anything, only the plot. Rated M just in case some one was going to decide to be a butt.


She slammed her head against the table making her paper work flutter. Her luscious big curled brown hair fanned around her face against the table. She loved her job. Really. She did. It was just the paper work that was killer. And that is coming from an ANBU member.

She just wished that for once something would be easy. It could be anything really. Maybe even a decision as easy as ice cream or cookies. But, no. Her life had to be hard. Nothing could be easy for her, not even paperwork.

Peeling her head off the table, she placed her chin on her hand which was propped up by the table. She opened her eyes to reveal brown almost black orbs. Her naturally red rosebud lips pursed into a pout.

It was like this after every mission she had. Hell, it had been like this since she became a Chunnin. And, it just got worse the higher rank she became. She felt sorry for Tsunade. Her paper work must be beyond killer. Maybe it's suicidal?

Huffing she pushed herself up off the table. Leaning against her chair now, she gazed at the scattered paper work. Sighing she shuffled it into a neat pile. Picking up the black pen on the table, she got to work conquering the dreaded paper work.

Pushing her chair back, she gazed at her finished work. Finally, she can relax. Standing up, she made her way over to her couch. It was a dark brown, like her eyes. The cushions were soft and made the person sitting on it want to go to sleep. She snuggled down into the cushions and hugged herself. She was just too lazy to get a blanket.

As her eyes were closing and she was finally going to sleep, the door bell rang. Of course, this was just her luck. Groaning, she stood up. She ran a hand through her hair, combing it. The big curls bounced back into place after her hand straightened them out. Straightening her black tank top and making sure her black shorts looked okay, she padded over, barefoot, to the door.

Opening the door, she blinked, adjusting to the sunlight, and leaned against the doorframe. Once her eyes adjusted, she saw one of her team mates in their ANBU gear. His mask was covering his face, but she could tell it was Dai by his black tipped white hair sticking out from behind the mask.

"Tsunade just gave me a mission for both of us." Dai said. She sighed. Like she had said, nothing for her was easy.

"Okay, you can tell me what it is while I get ready." She turned and headed into her house. Dai followed. Cocking her head to the left she said, "Details please." Dai nodded.

"That kid Naruto and the Chunnin Shikamaru went on a mission to deliver a classified scroll to the Sand a couple of hours ago. However, we were just told the Akatsuki have been spotted in the area. Tsunade wants us to catch up to the two and take over their mission. One of us will escort them back while the other takes the scroll to the Sand. Which job do you want, Mika?" Dai asked while standing in the doorway of Mika's bedroom as she suited up.

She pulled a whit vest over her black tank top. She pulled on her black gloves and laced her arms up with black bandages. After sliding on white arm guards that went up to her elbow, she rolled her shoulders. She pulled on her black ninja shoes after she, roman style, laced up her leg with black bandages. She strapped white shin guards around her shins. They only covered the bottom half of her shins. Mika strapped her black kuni holder to her left leg. She ran a hand along the tattoo on her right hip. It was simple: just a black swirl with the end trailing off down the length of her leg and it had a curved line over the top of the swirl. She stood up to her full height and pulled her hair up into a high ponytail.

"Hm. I'll take them back. I seem to be better at protecting people any way. Are you ready?" Mika asked as she strapped her katana to her back. The handle showed over her right shoulder. Dai nodded, "I've been ready." Mika smirked and grabbed her mask. Putting it on her head, they headed out.

They stopped just outside the clearing they heard fighting in. Hiding in the trees, they examined the damage. Naruto and Shikamaru seemed to be holding up pretty well. But, the Akatsuki members seemed to be getting close to taking the scroll; they even came close to capturing Naruto, which was not good.

Right before Dai was about to head into battle, Mika put a hand against his chest. Shaking her head, she signaled for him to be quiet. She placed her hand around the hilt of her katana and crouched lower to the tree branch she was on. She was ready to take off and intervene when she saw fit. Her muscles coiled in anticipation. But, first she had to analyze.

Her dark brown orbs hidden under her mask followed the movements of the first member. This one had blonde hair that over his left eye and the rest of it was pulled into a ponytail. He was standing on this clay bird thing. He wore the traditional Akatsuki cloak.

Mika watched as he threw more clay things at Shikamaru. Shikamaru jumped out of the way as they exploded. Mika looked at Dai. Raising her hand she signaled to him that he was attacking the blonde. Dai could deal with explosives better than her. He nodded.

She then turned her attention to the other member. He also wore the traditional cloak. However, he had short red hair. And he seemed to be using puppets. Holding her hand up in the signal to wait, she waited until Naruto was about to get attack by one of the puppets to signal to join in.

With drawing her katana, she infused it with chakra and cut through some of the chakra strings controlling it before landing in front of Naruto in a defensive position. Her katana was held in-front of her as she crouched. Glancing back at Naruto, her voice flowed across the clearing clearly, "Who has the scroll?"

Naruto glanced at Shikamaru. Don't get him wrong he was happy the ANBU were here. But, didn't Grandma Tsunade have any faith in him? He could do this. Mika followed his gaze and looked Shikamaru over. She saw the scroll attached to his back. Her hand twitched in the direction of Shikamaru. Suddenly, Dai was next to Shikamaru, facing the blonde Akatsuki member.

"Give me the scroll. I'll deliver it for you." Shikamaru nodded and handed the ANBU the scroll. Dai attached the scroll to his back, looked at Mika and nodded. He took off in the direction of Suna.

"Deidara, follow him. I'll handle these three." The red head said. The blonde member nodded. The big bird he was standing on turned around and headed in the direction Dai had just taken off in. The red head turned back towards Mika.

"Thanks for making my job easier." Mika replied, never once faltering in her stance.

"Your job? What are you doing here?! Me and Shikamaru had it all under control! BELIEVE IT!" Naruto yelled confused. Mika just glanced over her shoulder before laying her eyes back on the Akatsuki member before her.

"Believe it or not, Tsunade was worried about you. She sent me and my partner out here to help you finish your mission. Now, be a good boy and stay out of this fight." Mika replied while she twirled her sword in a circle before putting it out in-front of her. The red haired man just stood there unfazed by Mika.

Mika jumped backwards and into Naruto, effectively getting out of the attack the red head had just initiated and keeping Naruto safe. Naruto landed on his butt, while Mika landed in-front of him. Her muscles coiled into the familiar defensive pose. Shikamaru ran over to where they were.

"What are we going to do?" Shikamaru asked. Naruto stood up, brushed himself off and glared at the ANBU before him. Who did she think she was?

"We run." Naruto looked up at the back off the ANBU's head in surprise. Did she just say what he thought she said?

"If we run and get closer to Konoha he will stop attacking. Most of the other ANBU are patrolling in that area. We will get you safe. That is my job right now: keeping you safe," Her voice lowered so only Shikamaru and Naruto heard it. "When I attack, run. I will be right behind you, so don't worry." Shikamaru nodded, showing he understood, even though she couldn't see him. With much hesitation, Naruto nodded also.

"Good. Wait for the signal, then go." Mika all but whispered. Her stance changed from defense to an offensive one. Her legs were shoulder width apart and slightly bent at the knees. The tip of her katana was pointed towards the ground as she held it in both of her hands.

"Earth's burial." She whispered as she pushed her katana into the ground. The earth began to rise from the ground and flew towards the puppets. It ran into the puppets rock by rock until it was crushed. The rocks didn't stop until the puppet wasn't visible any more. She unsheathed her katana from the ground with her right hand. Turning she took off after the two lower ranked ninja running ahead of her.

She didn't stick around to see the reaction of the Akatsuki member. But, if she stayed she might have seen the slightly shocked look on his face. How did she disable all of his puppets with one jutsu? She didn't even use hand signs. He should tell leader about her. With that thought, he turned around and headed for Deidara.

Hn. Itachi let his bored eyes scan the area. Their leader, Pein, had sent Kisame and him on a mission to retrieve a new member for the Akatsuki. Apparently, she was a Konoha ANBU.

He silently scoffed. All of them had defeated several ANBUs… And yet, Pein wanted an ANBU in the Akatsuki? He guessed the only reason Pein agreed to allowing her in was because Sasori wanted her in the Akatsuki. Sasori had never really shown any interest in the people they have encountered or slain until this girl. Deidara had said it was because she had destroyed Sasori's puppets without lifting a finger. But that wasn't possible. Was it?

So now, here he was, with his partner, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. They had been told a minimal on their target, something every hunter nin dreaded. Both had decided to watch her, to learn what she did every hour of everyday. The only problem? They didn't know her name or where she lived besides in Konoha. The only thing they know about her is that her job is to protect the Kyuubi. To flush her out, they will have to attack the Kyuubi. Hopefully she won't be on a mission and she'll come running to his aid without much observation of what was really going on.

That was the plan. Itachi just hoped Kisame wouldn't ruin it like he did so many other missions. It would be a shame to kill him. Itachi almost smiled at that thought. Almost. With Kisame dead, he could finally have some peace and quiet.

It just couldn't be easy for her; it just couldn't be. She sighed as she strapped her ANBU mask over her face. Her brown hair was pulled out of her face and into a ponytail. She had just returned from a rather hard S-ranked mission to the Hidden Mist. The ANBU uniform she wore had scratches, cuts and spots of blood on it from her mission. Her muscles ached from being used. She was tired, hungry, low on chakra, and now she had to save Naruto from the Akatsuki…again. Again!

Did they not get that they couldn't have him? The Leaf has protected him, and will protect him. A few of her friends have even died protecting him. She will not let their deaths be in vain.

She hopped from roof top to roof top, running along the length of the roof before jumping at its edge. She needed to get there, and fast. Sure, Dai was there. However, they could protect him better with one on the defensive and on the offensive.

Jumping over the wall that surrounded Konoha and jumping on the branches of trees through the forest surrounding Konoha for a while, she finally made it to the training grounds. It was far enough from the village for the occupants not to know of the battle going on. She only knew about it because of the earpieces Dai and she always wore, even while not on a mission. They were a precaution, just in case an attack like this happened, and both of them were not guarding him. She glanced around the field to assess the damage.

Apparently, Naruto had come here alone to train; Dai sticking with him undetected for protection while she was gone. Noting, with anger, that was Dai on the ground unconscious, she took in the state of Naruto. He had bruises and some minor cuts, but other than that he looked fine. Except for the fact that a blue Akatsuki member, that resembled a shark, was rushing at him with a sword held back ready to swig at Naruto, aimed to cut him in half.

Without a second thought, her muscles coiled and sprang into action. Had she waited, she would have seen the black haired man with red eyes standing near the tree line. She would have seen that the blue man wasn't moving as fast as he could. She would have seen that Naruto had escaped way to many lethal jutsu possible for one of his rank. She would have seen that something was wrong with this fight.

However, she didn't wait. She didn't examine like she was taught to do. She didn't measure each of her moves before she acted. She just moved. The one main thought on her mind was protecting Naruto until she could send him towards the village.

Slamming her body into the rushing Akatsuki member, her hands found the hilt of his sword. His hands had loosened their hold on her impact. She wrenched the sword from his hands, spun her body, and flung it across the field to the other side, away from Naruto.

Pushing herself away from the blue man, she back flipped out of his arm reach and to the side of Dai. Crouching in her landing, her hand flew to his neck. She almost let out a breath of relief when she felt a pulse. Hooking her arms under his arm pits, she jumped back words towards where Naruto was standing.

Laying Dai down on the ground, she glanced at the blue man. He had just recovered from their collision as she placed Dai down. And, he looked pissed, absolutely and utterly pissed. She stood to her full height, her left hand pulling out a kuni. She stepped in-front of Naruto and Dai, taking a defensive stance.

"Naruto," her voice called from under the mask she wore, muffling it slightly, "Can you take him to the village?" Her body didn't move, didn't twitch, and didn't give any evidence that she was going to look back to see if he had heard her. The black holes of her mask faced the blue man, hiding her eyes, and not showing if she glanced back or not.

Naruto stayed where he was. Glancing at Itachi, who still stood in the tree line, Naruto decided to stay put. He wondered if she noticed him. She had to have noticed Itachi right? She was an ANBU after all.

"That wasn't a question Naruto. It was an order. Take him to the hospital and get out of here." Her voice had turned from slightly questioning to a hardened, battle ready voice. It was like she had come to terms that her partner was hurt, which she was furious about, and that this was going to be a hard battle. However, it was one she could handle.

Naruto gulped and nodded. He knew what happened when you disobeyed this ANBU. He had once. And let's just say the ANBU unconscious on the ground had to hold the ANBU in-front of him back to keep her from maiming him. He had never seen their faces, never seen them without their ANBU masks on, only heard their muffled voices, and yet she had never looked so scary to him until then. Her muffled voice of anger, the black eyes of her mask staring into his very soul, and her rise of chakra caused fear to run down his spine.

"Hai." He muttered shortly. His body moved, following the directions the ANBU had given him. With one last nervous glance at Itachi, he took off towards the village. He moved as fast as he could while carrying a heavy, unconscious man on his back. A thought nagged him though, Itachi hadn't seemed like he was going after him though. But, isn't that what the Akatsuki wanted…the demon inside him?

Mika heard the blue man chuckle. Her eyebrows narrowed. What did he have to laugh about? His prey was getting away. His weapon was across the field from him. And, he was laughing? Shifting her stance slightly, she flicked her wrist and slid a sebnon needle into her right hand from beneath her arm protector. If she could just hold him off until back up arrives…her thoughts were cut off as the blue man chuckled.

"You think you can beat me?" He asked incredulously. His body shifted and he jumped toward his sword, drawing her eyes further away from Itachi. This woman was too easy to fool. And, Sasori and Pein wanted her in the Akatsuki? Ha. She wouldn't last a minute. He crouched and picked up his large sword, twirling it with his wrist as he stood to his full height.

Mika watched his movements carefully. Something was off. Didn't the Akatsuki travel and work in pairs? She had always gone against two Akatsuki members instead of one. So, where was the other one?

Her head started to turn microscopically as she scoped out the area to the left of her. Nothing. She started to scan the area to the right until the blue man moved. He jumped towards her pulling his sword behind him to attack. She jumped to the left to avoid the swing of the blade. The blue man followed her. He swung the sword backhandedly. Mika ducked into a crouch, the blade slicing where her neck had been.

As he finished through with the swing of his sword, he left his torso open. Taking the opportunity, she pushed herself towards him. The kuni knife in her left hand slashed across his neck as she flipped over him. Landing on the other side of him in a crouch, she shoot out her leg and swiped his feet out from under him. As he landed hard on his side, she jumped away from him.

Itachi mentally scoffed. This ANBU member was a joke, a bad joke. He could have finished her off within seconds. Hell, Kisame could have finished her off within that time frame. If she couldn't sense him, then she didn't need to be in the Akatsuki. But, if Pein wanted her alive, they had to bring her in alive. Letting out a breath in a silent sigh and wanting to finish this pointless fight quickly, he attacked.

Mika's eyes widened as she felt chakra rushing her quickly from behind. The chakra felt familiar. Lunging to the right, she somersaulted, landed on her feet and jumped away. Facing the members of the Akatsuki, her eyes widened under her mask. Itachi? She would have to fight Itachi?

There was a reason the only time she ran into the Akatsuki on a mission was on accident. She was never put on a mission that had anything to do with the Akatsuki, unless they were 'just in the area' and there was a possibility that she wouldn't come face to face with them. And that reason was Itachi. He was once a teammate of hers, before he had massacred his clan. And well, Mika, while she was loyal, she was loyal to a fault. She couldn't, no she wouldn't attack anyone who was once a teammate of hers. At least, not one that had defended her, helped her, and saved her life for years. And one of those people was Itachi. Mika was happy she wore the ANBU mask for obviously he hadn't recognized her yet.

"Hn." She heard him utter as he gazed upon her. In her peripheral vision, she saw his eyes flicker from black depths to red pools. Not daring to gaze upon his Sharigan, she kept her gaze upon his feet, along with his partner's. This was going to be harder than she thought.

Deciding that she would need more than taijutsu for this fight, her stance changed completely. Her legs moved to shoulder width apart; her knees bent evenly for strength and balance. She straightened her back. Her left hand, with the kuni, stretched out in front of her. Pushing the sebnon needle back into its hiding spot, she brought her right hand into the tiger's paw position. Her thumb was closest to her lips and her pinkie was closest to the Akatsuki.

She examined the chakra of the blue man. She already knew Itachi specialized in fire jutsu. But, the blue man seemed like he specialized in water jutsu. Hm. Interesting. They put opposites on a team. Just her luck. She wanted to hang her head in despair. Nothing could be easy for her. Nothing.

Quickly deciding that she would just avoid Itachi until she took the blue guy out, she shifted her foot. Rocks rose from the ground and flew towards the two Akatsuki. The two members had to jump away from each other because the rocks were angled in a way that made them. Still keeping an eye on Itachi, she jumped after the blue guy.

Spinning in mid-air, she raised her leg into a round house kick. Fire erupted at the end of her foot, and even though she was a ways from the blue man the fire swept towards him. She watched with slight satisfaction that his eyes widened. Ha. She wasn't going to go down without a fight.

()()()()()

What a fight it was. She made good on her decision to just attack the blue man. He barely escaped the fire she flung his way. She avoided Itachi well enough until the end when she was close to collapsing. That was when he came up behind her to knock her out.

Glancing at the woman in his arms, Itachi wondered how she could be that powerful. She had controlled the earth and fire without hand signs. She avoided him and attacked Kisame. Now, he knew why Sasori wanted her. Maybe he would make her into a puppet? Oh well, he honestly didn't care what happened to her. He just wanted to finish her mission.

"Stop!" Itachi and Kisame heard as they had turned away. Glancing back, they saw the other ANBU of the Leaf. Itachi just looked at them unemotionally. He noted they had taken a while to get there like they had thought she could hold them off until they got there. However by the look of her armor when she had arrived she had already gone through a tough battle before she had arrived. Hn. It looked like they had overestimated her. He watched with mild amusement as they stared, shocked, at the girl in his arms.

"Kisame, let's go." Itachi said before disappearing, with the girl in his arms, in a flock of ravens. Kisame followed by disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

This was not good, thought most of the ANBU. Mika had to fight Itachi. Most knew she wouldn't and that was probably why she had fallen before they had gotten there. Most couldn't understand what the Akatsuki wanted with her anyway. If they wanted info on the Kyuubi, who Mika refused to call him by that name and insisted on calling him Naruto, she wouldn't give it to them. If they wanted info on the Leaf, she would rather die. They all would. And the Akatsuki knew that. So, what could they want her for? Dai was going to be the most upset about it. She was his partner after all.

A swirl of commotion. Thunder. Lightning. Flashes of light. Debris. Items from her life. People. The swirled around her in a mass of confusion and chaos. Some items and faces were lit up more than others. She saw a face flash in front of her face. Black, depthless eyes stared back at her. His black hair framed his face. She had the sudden urge to run her hands through his hair like she had done before.

The feeling of blood splattering on her face made her blink and flinch in pain. Opening her eyes, she saw the same man as before and herself. They were talking amiably. She even watched herself blush. Suddenly, the sight was ripped away from her by a searing pain in her heart.

Itachi…

The whisper resounded around her mind. It echoed around and faded as her pain increased.

Pain. Soreness. Stiffness. Tiredness. Unable to move... These words swam in Mika's mind as she came back from the world of unconsciousness. She tried to open her eyes, but they felt so heavy. Scrunching her nose in agitation, she felt the familiar weight of her ANBU mask on her face. Frowning slightly, she acknowledged that the hospital in Konoha took off the ANBU mask when they treated an ANBU. So this must mean that she was captured by the Akatsuki.

A small pain filled groan escaped her lips before she could stop it. Her eyes snapped open as the sound escaped her lips. Instantly she scanned the room, hoping to find no one to witness her moment of weakness. Finally, she thought, some good luck.

While scanning the room, she noted it was completely black. It wasn't the blackness one sees when out at night. This was the blackness one sees when they close their eyes. It's the blackness that moves, that gives kids nightmares, the kind that plays with one's eyes. The only light came from a torch by a door…on the other side of the room, leaving her shrouded in darkness.

She tried to move her hand to the front of her face, but she felt metal restraints holding them back. Her shoulders ached like they had been in one place to long. Her legs were asleep and folded around her. Leaning back, her shoulders stung. Shifting forward again, she leaned her head back to glance up. Her wrists were held above her head with chains. The chains were bolted to the wall.

Never mind. She takes back the comment about good luck. This was anything but good luck in the least. Slouching forward, trying to ease to pain in her shoulders, she assessed her situation.

She had been captured by the Akatsuki. Her chakra was still way to low to try and escape. Rolling her shoulder and brushing her right ear against it, she felt that her ear piece was gone. She was sore all over and could barely move. Inwardly groaning, she realized she would have to play along with whatever the Akatsuki wanted until she was strong enough to escape or at least stay try to stay alive that long. Closing her eyes, she began to meditate, trying to keep her chakra flowing and ready for when she had to control the elements again.

It was about 3 days after she had awoken; at least she thought it was 3 days, before an Akatsuki member began to talk to her. It was the blonde Akatsuki member that fought with clay bombs. He placed her usual plate of bread, rice and water down in front of her as he crouched. She glanced down at and the spoon in his hand.

Lucky her they had decided to cut the bottom half of her mask to feed her, after she had refused to have them take it off. And by refuse, she means she kicked, squirmed, and even got one in an arm lock when they tried to take it off. She was worse when Itachi was in the room. He couldn't know who she was, considering what happened to the others. She couldn't get killed; she had to protect Naruto.

She turned her head as the blonde brought the spoon closer to her mouth. She wouldn't eat out of their hands. Drink? That was a different story, but eat, no. They could have poisoned it.

"Come on. Eat, un." The blonde said while moving the spoon in the direction of her mouth. Her eyes watched his movements. He placed the spoon to her lips. He was almost gentle. It could've fooled her. However, she has seen firsthand what the Akatsuki can do. They are anything but gentle. She pulled her head back from the spoon.

"Leader-sama won't be happy if you don't eat, un. He'll push you hard when he lets you join, yeah." Her eyes widened. They wanted her to join the Akatsuki? That was what this was about? Didn't they know that she would say no?

"If you think I'm joining the Akatsuki, then you are obviously more delusional than we thought you were. Now get that out of my face and leave me alone." Her voice was still as strong as before. It was forceful, demanding, and every bit of that of a leader's voice.

Deidara was a bit taken back. He was expecting her voice to be frail, weak, or even just hoarse. But, it was strong, confident, unwavering. He slowly pulled back the spoon away from her mouth. The others had said she wouldn't talk no matter what.

It was obvious from the bruise that was forming on her cheek that some had used more…forceful means in getting her to talk. Yet, she talked to him when he was trying to feed her? He was just trying to help her out. After all he was forced to join the Akatsuki as well.

"What is your problem, un? I'm just trying to help, yeah." He replied, his agitation could be heard.

"What is my problem? You are my prob-umph!" The blonde had shoved the spoon into her mouth. The rice filled her mouth with the wonderful taste of food. Her brain told her to spit it out, preferably into the man's face; however, her body greedily swallowed the rice.

"There, that wasn't so bad, un." The blonde replied, scooping up more rice. Mika watched his movements. If he told her about her joining, then are they acting soon? Should she escape now? Her chakra was back to full strength, but she had been feeling a little faint from the lack of food.

The blonde poked her lips with the spoon again. Deciding to eat first, she obediently opened her mouth slightly, allowing the rice to enter. She chewed slowly to savor the flavor and to gain time. She needed to figure out where the blonde's weapons were before she attacked him.

Deidara watched the prisoner as he fed her. Her mouth, the only facial feature he could see, looked as if it was naturally red. Her lips were a rose bud shape. She was curvy. The outfit she wore screamed that. She seemed to be mostly muscle. Her dark hair was slightly matted and still pulled back into a ponytail. The eye holes of her mask were ominously black.

"Thank you." He heard her voice whisper. He nodded though slightly taken back that she had said thank you.

Mika watched the man in-front of her as she froze water in her cuffs to expand and break the metal. She heard the faint cracks as the metal cracked, but the man before her didn't realize it. She shifted slightly, acting like she was trying to get comfortable.

"You alright, un?" He asked. She nodded slightly. She waited until he leaned forward again to attack. Her hands pushed his shoulders back and she landed on his chest. She made sure to keep her knees digging into his elbows. She watched his eyes narrow. Grabbing his bags of clay that were attached to his legs, she threw them to the opposite sides of the room.

"Sorry." She whispered before pressing his pressure point on his neck. His eyes widened before closing. She grabbed his kuni pouches and attached them to her own legs. Turning, she rushed out of the room.

She ran down the halls of the hide-out. It seemed to be under ground, a plus for her. Just maybe things were looking up for her. Just, maybe. She turned sharply left. Her feet slipped and slid across the floor as she tried to run as fast as she could while trying to assess the turns and stops in the hallways.

"Umph." She grunted as she slammed into a something hard as she looked behind her. Jumping back immediately, she saw a silver haired man with a scythe. Her eyes narrowed. He was the one who was more forceful than the others.

"What the fuck?! How the hell did you escape?!" He yelled, raising his scythe. Mika pulled out a kuni from her stolen pouch. She needed to find her weapons and escape. However, she didn't know where anything was in this god forsaken place. The man in front of her just happened to know where everything was. Also, and he just happened to piss her off, beat her, and now, he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The silver haired man was shocked as the walls of the tunnel anchored him to ground. In a last ditch effort to attack, he tried to swing his scythe. Suddenly, the captured ANBU appeared before him. She grabbed his wrist and the swinging scythe. Turning the scythe downward, she snapped his wrist making turn at an odd angle. He grunted in pain. She flipped over him, grabbed his hair, and pulled back his head so he was facing the ceiling.

"I escaped on my own. And you will tell me where my weapons are, now." Hiden almost shivered. Her voice was different than he expected. It was smooth and confident, not shaky, scared, or even frail.

"You're not in the position to make demands, bitch. You are in the lair of the Akatsuki. You will be caught." Hiden replied with a smug look. Sasori was just down the hall. If he just made a loud enough noise, she would be caught.

As if anticipating his next move, she shoved his head forward. Vines of earth rose from the ground and wrapped themselves around him. The pull of the earth vines brought Haiden to his knees.

"Stay here, and don't make a sound. If I get caught again, you better pray to your god that I will grant you mercy." With one last shove of his head, Mika took off in the direction the silver haired man had come from.

Deidara groaned as he sat up. Leader-sama was going to kill him! He let her escape. However, how she escaped, he was not sure. She was supposed to be restrained by the chains. Getting up and walking over to the wall where the ANBU was restrained, he examined the cuffs. It looked like they were split apart. And they were cold to the touch. As he gazed at the cuffs he realized she was either going to be a great asset to the Akatsuki or she was going to be a great antagonist to them.

Mika sneered as she turned around and ran back the way she came. The guy with red hair was in the room behind her, and now he had spotted her. Her life is never easy! Never! Once she had seen him, she had taken off in the opposite direction. However, she saw the red haired man stand up to stop her.

Jumping over the still down silver haired man, she grabbed his dropped scythe. Placing her foot firmly behind her, she encased it with fire and chucked it down the hall. The red heads eyes widened slightly. Again she didn't use hand signs, yet she pulled off a high level move like taking control of another's weapon and having it do her bidding.

Sasori flash stepped out of the way of the flaming weapon. Picking up some kuni, he flung them at the captured ANBU with the flick of his wrist. Mika just avoided the kuni by a millimeter. However, one cut the string that was holding her mask to her face. Her jaw clenched as she watched her mask fall to the ground. Nothing was easy for her!

In her lapse of attention, Sasori had taken control of her body with chakra strings. She felt her body go rigid. Shit! She glared at the man before her.

"Ha I fucking told you!" Hidan had taken another breath to speak but stopped when he saw the girl fully for the first time. Her eyes were so dark he couldn't decipher her pupil from her iris. Her small petite nose, and her full red, rose bud lips completed her face. Her body was the definition of femininity. Her lips formed a sneer. Her eyes hardened.

Should she show them what she is capable of? Surely they had an idea if they wanted her to join the Akatsuki. But, did they fully know? Did they know the extent that her control of the elements went? They kept calling her girl, so did they even know who she was?

Before she could actually decide, the red haired man made her turn around and walk down the hallway to the left. Deciding to play along, and maybe even get to attack the leader, Mika let the man walk her down to a door that looked just like all the others. The red head knocked.

"Enter," was heard from beyond the door. Mika's eyes furrowed. She always pictured the s-ranked criminal association to more of an agreement between the criminals and definitely not this organized. The red head walked in and made her fallow.

The man sitting behind the desk had bright orange hair and was spiked in all directions. His face was covered in piercings, yet he seemed to pull it off. She noted that his eyes widened when he saw her. She glanced around the room. It was more lit up than her holding cell. The walls were a bare white and the only furniture in the room was the desk and chair the man was sitting on. To Mika, it resembled the Hokage's office.

"She tried to escape." The red head said in a soft voice. Her jaw clenched again. She could have escaped already, however she wanted to take down the leader. Now that she was here, she just had to wait t to the moment the red head left to strike. She was strong, but she knew she couldn't take down two strong Akatsuki members at once.

"I see. Sasori hold her while I explain the situation to our newest member." The orange haired man replied. Mika glanced at the red haired man. So, his name is Sasori? Hm. Like she needed to know that.

"Well, you must be wondering why you are here…Mika is it?" The orange haired man asked. Mika's eyes hardened. So they know her name. Do they know of her abilities?

"You are here because you are a good addition to our organization. You will be given your own room. You will be paired with a group until we find you your own partner. I'm sure Diedara would like to show you around. I am Pein, but you will call me leader. Do you understand?" Mika's lips formed a sneer as she heard this. Did they really expect her to join? Gathering the spit in her mouth, she spat it out in Pein's direction.

"What makes you think I will join you anyways?" She spat at the man before her. His face broke out into a smirk.

"We can kill everyone you care about Mika. And at the top of that list is your teammate Dai." Mika's eyes widened. They wouldn't she tried to delude herself. But, deep, deep down, she knew the truth. They would. They would in a heartbeat, and without a second thought.

Itachi sat in the same room as the new 'recruit'. He was quite surprised to find out the ANBU member he had captured had been Mika. Of all people, it was her. She was his old team mate from the time he graduated from the academy to when he massacred his clan.

Her not fighting him also made since now. He had known her to be loyal to a fault. And, in his case, it was a fault.

There had been those brief moments when he was alone with only his thoughts to entertain him that he would think about the past. The night he killed his clan would be at the forefront of his thoughts. However, there were those brief times when he thought of his life before that night. And, his thoughts were drawn to Mika. She had been with him since his beginning of the ninja profession. It was when he had thought of her that he felt emotions he hadn't felt in a while bubble to the surface again.

It was in those moments that he wondered what had become of her. It was clear, even when they were just genin, that she would excel to a high rank. And she did, becoming an ANBU was not a piece of proverbial cake. He would, also, wonder why he hadn't come across her yet. But, now it was obvious that the Leaf knew about her fault; and they tried to make it to where she would never have to fight him.

He had allowed himself those moments of emotional weakness because that is what they were. They were just minutes of shown emotion that no one would see. His solace had been that he most likely would never see her again. However, he was proven wrong again. Here she was, forced to be in the Akatsuki.

His heart swelled with emotion. Anger, hate, longing, confusion, and many others. He hated how he had longed for her, even if it was in those few minutes of self indulgence. He was angry at the Leader for letting her join or at the very least letting him know who had joined. Itachi had found out the day after she was forced to join, when she walked into the kitchen without her mask on. He was hurt that she wouldn't acknowledge him. And, he was confused on why he was hurt by such an unimportant reason.

Through all this over thought, and searching for a clue why he felt that way, his face remained as emotionless and uncaring as always while he looked at Mika.

She still couldn't look at him. With all the months she had been in the Akatsuki. She still couldn't look at him.

He had changed. And yet everything was the same about him. The way he moved, the way he looked, and as cliché as it sounds the way he smelled was the same. He was here.

He had left her. He had left her and betrayed the village they both had sworn to protect. They had been best friends. And he had betrayed her.

He had left her, and she couldn't face him yet.

Itachi watched as she walked away from him yet again. Not once did she ever look at him in the face. When she would walk into the same room as him, she would turn around wordlessly and walk away. If he would walk into a room she was in, she wouldn't acknowledge him, finish her conversation, and then leave the room without a second glance.

It was starting to frustrate him. He wanted to talk to her. He wanted to pick up where they left off. Yet, she was resisting him. Did she know she was doing this to him? Did she know the frustration she was causing him? She was deliberately denying him the one thing he tried to protect.

Now that he had it in his grasp he didn't want to let it go. But, she held it up and of his grasp. She made it slip through his finger like water. She denied it to him and, ironically, she was what he wanted.

He wanted to talk to her again like they had before. He wanted to continue where he had left off with her, where the elders forced him to leave off with her. She was one of the reasons he had chosen to kill his clan, become the scapegoat, and protect the village. When he killed his clan, he was protecting her, protecting the village she loved. The elders had used her, his soft spot, against him to get him to do their bidding.

His eyes flickered with emotion before cooling to his cold mask as he watched her disappear around the corner of the hallway.

He had waited long enough. He had denied himself this long enough. He had been without it long enough. He had waited years. Years. And now that he could have it she denied him. Had it been himself denying him this he could he waited longer, but not forever. See, he was a selfish man. And as selfish as he was, what he wanted he got. Being as the thing he has wanted for quite some time shows no interest is quite frustrating.

He followed her down the halls. Today, after months of being denied the simplest of contact now that was available to him. He needed to have that contact.

Mika glanced behind her. The silhouette of Itachi filled her vision. Her face paled, her heart beat sped up, and her heart rose to her throat making it hard to breath. His eyes were locked on her. He was the hunter and she was the prey. He was the car and she was the deer in the bright white head lights. It scared her.

She stood frozen in the abandoned hallway. Itachi slowly made his way towards her. Her eyes were locked with his, a trait of hers that he always liked. Stopping in front of her, he looked down at the woman who was two inches shorter than him.

The intenseness of his gaze made her shiver. She pulled her eyes away from his. Mika prayed that he would just walk away. However, nothing was easy for her. Nothing.

Itachi narrowed his eyes. She has never done that before.

"Is there a reason why you have avoided me, Mika?" His voice was low and filled with the emotion that only she was witness to. Mika nervously glanced back at the man before her. She had prayed on her knees that this would have never happen. Obviously, her prayers weren't heard.

"I haven't been avoiding you." Was her reply. Her eyes glanced away from him. He stepped forward causing her to back up in response.

"Yes, you have." Itachi replied continuing his trek forward, backing her up to the wall. She glanced back to him. This was so much like how he acted before, much more emotion showing, but had that same cockiness about him that she had come to like.

He glanced down at the woman before him. The one he was protecting all along. She had grown since the last time he had actually looked at her. He took in the changes that made her more of a woman than a girl now. She had filled into her body. Her big wavy brown hair was down. The big curls framed her face and curled around her shoulder blades at the tips. Her brown depths were almost as black as his. Her lips were as tempting as he remembered. His hand slowly rose to her cheek; he traced his knuckle down her cheek.

"I'm so glad to see you again." He whispered. She flinched away from his touched and looked up at him questioningly. What was he doing? Did he seriously think they could just start from the broken pieces he left behind?

His hand trailed down from her cheek to her neck. As he reached her collar bone, he wrapped his hand around her neck and his other wrapped around her waist. He pulled her into a hug. Itachi indulged himself in her, something he wasn't able to do for years.

Her hands found themselves on his chest. After soft pushes doing nothing, she roughly pushed him away from her. He gazed down at her confused. Didn't she want to start again too? Her gaze was filled with anger and confusion.

"W-what are you doing?" She cursed that he always made her control slip. He had somehow always made her stutter.

"I'm hugging you." Itachi deadpanned. Did she not know what that was?

"Not that!" she almost growled, causing Itachi's lips to twitch into his rarely seen smile. "I meant why?"

"Because I wanted to." His smile turned into a smirk as she glared at him. Oh how he had missed this. He missed bantering with her, being with her, and he even missed the urge to kiss her, which had almost overwhelmed him on several occasions.

"Yeah well can you let go? I have things to do." Mika tried pushing away from Itachi, but the wall behind her stood firm. It wouldn't budge. Huffing, she locked her arms, intent on keeping him at least that far away from her. Itachi's smirk faltered slightly. This was not going like he planned.

She was supposed to run to him. She was suppose to blush and stutter and act like the before. She was supposed to cling to him like she had before when he would hug her. She was supposed to act like before. No questions about why he left. No questions at all. In his mind it was suppose to be like they hadn't seen each other after a long mission.

But, to her, he was just rubbing salt into the wound. Did he really think she could just forget? He had left her! Sure, he had left for missions without her before; but, in those times, she knew he would come back and at approximately what time too. This time though, he left. No word. No goodbye. Nothing. And, she found out that he had killed his clan to top it off. The whole situation was just confusing. So, in an effort to shine some light on her lost self, she clung to what she knew. And that was the pain and the anger.

Focusing on those two emotions, she began to move to the side. How dare he. How dare he! How dare he think she could just forget that he left her!? However, before she could move more than an inch, Itachi's arm blocked her way of escape. Shifting to move the other way, she flinched slightly at the loud thud Itachi's hand produced when connecting to wall. His arms acted like vision guards, blocking her peripheral vision and allowing her to see only his face.

"No, you are staying here." Itachi's voice rumbled across the less than arms length space between them. Mika turned her glare from his cloak clad arms to his black depths. Could he not just let her go? Was that so hard for him? Did he not see that he was causing her more pain? She felt the tell tale burn behind her eyes as she gazed into his own. Gulping, she tried to force her tears and the lump in her throat down.

"Why?" Her voice was so small, almost broken. Itachi didn't like this tone of hers. It was as if she was broken, hurt beyond repair, beaten. His brows furrowed together in confusion. Was she hurt because he wouldn't let her go? Or was she trying to get him to loosen his position for her to escape? Or was it a simple question that she really wanted the answer to her question?

If that was the case, there were so many answers; Itachi didn't know where to start. He could start with how much he missed her; but, so far, she hadn't seemed to have missed him even a fraction of how much he had missed her.

There was the option of just replying that he didn't want to and leaving it at that. However, he knew she wouldn't take that as an answer; others would have but not her.

Another option was telling her everything. But, that option was the longest one. And to be honest with himself, he just wanted her to hug him back and to look at him with the same look as she had years before. Telling her everything right then and there would be too long for his needs in that moment.

His best choice for his needs at the moment was the first option. And, if that option led to the extremely long and, in his opinion, boring option, he would give her an outline of what happened, a very short and to-the-point outline.

He leaned in closer to the woman in front of him. This was for her ears and her ears only. Now that he was a notorious emotionless S- ranked criminal only she would see the emotion he held. How could he hide it from her anyway?

"I missed you, Mika." He whispered. His eyes were black depths swirling with blazing, even searing, emotion that shocked Mika. He inhaled her scent of apples and cinnamon. Closing his eyes for a few brief seconds before he saw her reaction, he basked in all the memories the smell invoked, and, more importantly, the feelings it invoked then and now.

Her eyes widened and then narrowed in confusion. He had to be tricking her, pulling her into some sick joke that the other members thought would be funny. She looked into his eyes, not worrying about his Sharigan; but she searched for any sign that he was lying, because, he had to be lying. Right?

"Yeah. Okay. And I'm a guy." She replied sarcastically. She couldn't find a sign that he was lying, but she fallowed her belief that he was. There was no way he could miss her after so many years, especially leaving the way he did. There was just no possible way.

Itachi frowned. He had hoped that she would believe him, but it seems that she didn't. He should have known, really. Her reactions to everything else should have told him that.

Before, when he had returned from a mission, she would have whispered, "I missed you too," in an ecstatic voice that he was back and hug him fiercely. But to his great disappointment, she did neither and actually implied that she didn't believe him.

This was definitely not what he had decided that would play out when he went over this in his mind. She was doing the opposite of what he wanted. She was still denying him even though he had her in his arms. Even though she was secure in his grip for the first time in years, she still wouldn't look at him or acknowledge that he was being serious. It was infuriating.

"Well, you are mistaken Mika. You are the epitome of femininity. Which means in that this case; I am not lying like you think I am. I truly missed you." When he told her that he missed her, he leaned in closer. Their noses were almost touching. She could feel his warm breath every time he exhaled. His voice had somehow turned lower than before, taking a more husky tone. It caused Mika to shiver slightly.

Mika pushed her head against the wall, trying in vain to create more room from the distracting male in front of her. He was clouding her more rational thinking in such potency that he hadn't before. If she was thinking right, she would have forcefully removed him from her person with any element she so chose, and Itachi knew it. This one ounce of knowledge allowed his smirk to reform on his face with more confidence.

"I doubt that." She replied sternly after a long pause. During that pause, she actually had begun considering that he was telling the truth. His body language was so convincing. If he was lying he gave nothing away. And, it didn't help her make a decision that wasn't swayed his way when all she was focused on right now was him. He was overloading her senses and she would be lying if she said she didn't like it to some degree. However, she still had the voice in the back of her head, that was rather loud and her only anchor to sane decisions, saying he had hurt you, left you, and never looked back. It whispered he never cared about you.

His smirk lost its confidence yet again. She was too stubborn sometimes he decided. Yes, sometimes he found this stubbornness cute and slightly sexy because who wanted the girl they like falling into the bed of every man after two words of conversation? However, there were situation like this one that her stubbornness became an unnecessary obstacle that he had to get over to get what he wanted.

And, right now, he wanted her to believe him, and then kiss him saying she was sorry for doubting him and that she never wanted to leave him again. But, no, that was not possible. She wasn't going to make it easy for him.

He took his arms from the wall and was glad when her arms stopped pushing so harshly against his chest. The next second, his arms wrapped tightly around her shoulder, pinning her arms to her side and her hands to his chest, and he pulled her to him in an almost desperate hug.

Mika's already clouded mind couldn't comprehend the emotions he was bombarding her with. Hell, she could barely register anything past his hug. Her body jumped when she felt his lips touch her neck as he burrowed his face in the junction between her shoulder and neck. Why was he doing this, was her only comprehendible thought in her misty mind.

"Wha-" she couldn't even finish the word she started. That was how confused she was. He had left her, yet he was now showing more intense emotions to her than before he left. Why? Why was he overloading her with these emotions now and not before?

Itachi pulled back to look into Mika's dark deep brown pools again. His grip loosened significantly. At the lost of support, Mika stumbled back into the wall. Her hands moved from his chest to the wall beside her for balance. Her eyes that were once so sure and confident seemed lost and confused now. They were glazed over and unseeing.

Itachi's smirk returned full force. Now things were moving in the direction he wanted. Why couldn't these events gone his way from the beginning? It would have been faster his way, much, much faster. He cupped her cheek, bringing her lost mind back to attention and causing it to focus on him.

"I missed you so much. It hurt, Mika." His voice was an octave lower and had obtained a very sexy husk that made Mika shiver visibly. Itachi gleefully took in the visual of him affecting her so. He had done that. Not Deidara, Not Leader, but himself. He was the one to cause her to shutter so delightfully.

"Prove it." The words left Mika in a breathless whisper. Itachi's confidence grew at that one statement. There was no way she would deny him now. She was practically begging for it anyway. Okay maybe she wasn't begging. But, her confusingly asking him what he has been wanting to do for years was something his selfish self was not going to pass up.

Even in her overloaded, confused, prey-like state, Mika could tell that she had said something that was going to change the whole situation. She could tell by the confidence and dominant aura he permitted that it was good for him, very good for him. However, she was so sure about herself. What was he-

Her thought process shut off the moment his lips pressed demandingly to her. Her eyes widened in shock and slight outrage; her only complaint running to the front of her mind, but slowing with each step. He…left…

She tried to press herself into the wall, even going as far as trying to dissolve completely. But, she couldn't get away from the greedy lips that she had wanted to kiss several years ago.

Itachi rested his fore arms against the wall by Mika's face as he claim her lips at last. He wanted to feel her body against his even if it was a simple hug. He wanted to see her look at him with emotion even if it was anger. But most importantly he wanted her to want him, love him, just like he wanted and loved her even if he had to convince her by any means possibly, preferably the most pleasurable means possible.

He drew he bottom lip into his mouth sucking and nipping, giving her the chance to allow him in before he forcefully claim her oral cavern as his. Feeling her slightly pull away, he took it as a sign of rejection. Well, him being who he was, he didn't take rejection well. So, instead of acknowledging her wishes, he just continued fulfilling his own.

Both hands cupped her cheeks gently yet firmly. One hand went to her neck and tilted her head the way he wanted. The other trailed down her body drawing little swirls with a feather light touch that caused her to have goose bumps where ever he touched her. It also caused her to arch slightly to his touch. Reaching her hip, he securely wrapped his arm around her waist and brought their bodies flush against each other. He could feel every curve in her body. And, it felt heavenly.

Mika gasped when she was brought flush against Itachi. She could feel his structured body all over. His kiss was maddening and the feel of his well toned body only heightened the affect. She was over whelmed by his dominating presence. She had known him since they were kids. She knew he liked to be in charge. But, this was a new side of him the, she assumed, he kept hidden. And, the scariest thing for her was that she liked it… a lot.

When Mika had gasped, Itachi slipped his tongue into her oral cavern. He ran his pink appendage along her teeth and the roof of her mouth earning himself a small mewl of pleasure egging him on. He was quite surprised when her tongue rose to play without any coxing, but he wasn't one to complain.

He smirked into the heated facial battled when he felt her running from his abdomen to his shoulders, feeling through the fabric at his muscles. He had let out a low groan as she had slightly messaged his abs. His groan was received by another mewl of pleasure from the woman he had trapped between himself and the wall. Her arms wrapped loosely around his shoulder. One hand wound its way into his hair, running the silky material through its fingers and tugging at it when she wanted him closer. The other drew lazy designs on his back slowly.

Pulling away, Itachi couldn't help the smirk he had on his face as he kissed her cheek and made his way to her ear. When he kissed her ear chastely, Mika gasped and arched into him. He nibbled on her ear for a second before licking it.

He gorged himself on her need for him, on the pleasure she wanted from him. That was all he ever wanted: her to be his and only his. He would be her world. And, right now, he was granted his selfish desire.

"Now, do you believe me, Mika?" He asked. His breath blew on her wet ear, making her shiver. Smirking, he took her ear into his mouth again, not need the answer. He knew it was a yes.

"Yes." Mika breathlessly answered. Itachi squeezed her hip slightly, letting her know he heard. How could she not believe him after he had been so convincing?


End file.
